Chapter 1 of The Mysterious Affair at Styles is here in full — 355 sentences across 71 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Mysterious Affair at Styles is here in full — 355 sentences across 71 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Styles is really a glorious old place,” I said to John. He nodded rather gloomily. “Yes, it’s a fine property. It’ll be mine some day—should be mine now by rights, if my father had only made a decent will. And then I shouldn’t be so damned hard up as I am now.”
Chapter 1 of The Mysterious Affair at Styles is here in full — 355 sentences across 71 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 68/71 · 5 reading units · Lines 336–340
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
expletives used informally as intensifiers
From this reading “And then I shouldn’t be so damned hard up as I am now.””
socially or conventionally correct; refined or virtuous
From this reading “It’ll be mine some day—should be mine now by rights, if my father had only made a decent will.”
with gloom
From this reading “He nodded rather gloomily.”
having or deserving or conferring glory
From this reading ““Styles is really a glorious old place,” I said to John.”
inflected form of “nod” — express or signify by nodding
From this reading “He nodded rather gloomily.”
something owned; any tangible or intangible possession that is owned by someone
From this reading ““Yes, it’s a fine property.”
plural of “right” — an abstract idea of that which is due to a person or governmental body by law or tradition or nature
From this reading “It’ll be mine some day—should be mine now by rights, if my father had only made a decent will.”
plural of “style” — how something is done or how it happens
From this reading ““Styles is really a glorious old place,” I said to John.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading “Styles is really a glorious old place,” I said to John.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading And then I shouldn’t be so damned hard up as I am now.”
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And then I shouldn’t be so damned hard up as I am now.”
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading And then I shouldn’t be so damned hard up as I am now.”
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading It’ll be mine some day—should be mine now by rights, if my father had only made a decent will.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading It’ll be mine some day—should be mine now by rights, if my father had only made a decent will.
expletives used informally as intensifiers
From this reading And then I shouldn’t be so damned hard up as I am now.”
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading It’ll be mine some day—should be mine now by rights, if my father had only made a decent will.
socially or conventionally correct; refined or virtuous
From this reading It’ll be mine some day—should be mine now by rights, if my father had only made a decent will.
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading It’ll be mine some day—should be mine now by rights, if my father had only made a decent will.
being satisfactory or in satisfactory condition
From this reading “Yes, it’s a fine property.
with gloom
From this reading He nodded rather gloomily.
having or deserving or conferring glory
From this reading “Styles is really a glorious old place,” I said to John.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading It’ll be mine some day—should be mine now by rights, if my father had only made a decent will.
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading And then I shouldn’t be so damned hard up as I am now.”
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He nodded rather gloomily.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “Styles is really a glorious old place,” I said to John.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading It’ll be mine some day—should be mine now by rights, if my father had only made a decent will.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “Styles is really a glorious old place,” I said to John.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It’ll be mine some day—should be mine now by rights, if my father had only made a decent will.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Yes, it’s a fine property.
a room or building equipped with one or more toilets
From this reading “Styles is really a glorious old place,” I said to John.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading It’ll be mine some day—should be mine now by rights, if my father had only made a decent will.
the one or ones belonging to the person speaking
From this reading It’ll be mine some day—should be mine now by rights, if my father had only made a decent will.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading It’ll be mine some day—should be mine now by rights, if my father had only made a decent will.
inflected form of “nod” — express or signify by nodding
From this reading He nodded rather gloomily.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading It’ll be mine some day—should be mine now by rights, if my father had only made a decent will.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading “Styles is really a glorious old place,” I said to John.
and nothing more
From this reading It’ll be mine some day—should be mine now by rights, if my father had only made a decent will.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading “Styles is really a glorious old place,” I said to John.
something owned; any tangible or intangible possession that is owned by someone
From this reading “Yes, it’s a fine property.
on the contrary
From this reading He nodded rather gloomily.
in accordance with truth or fact or reality
From this reading “Styles is really a glorious old place,” I said to John.
plural of “right” — an abstract idea of that which is due to a person or governmental body by law or tradition or nature
From this reading It’ll be mine some day—should be mine now by rights, if my father had only made a decent will.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “Styles is really a glorious old place,” I said to John.
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading It’ll be mine some day—should be mine now by rights, if my father had only made a decent will.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading And then I shouldn’t be so damned hard up as I am now.”
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading And then I shouldn’t be so damned hard up as I am now.”
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading It’ll be mine some day—should be mine now by rights, if my father had only made a decent will.
plural of “style” — how something is done or how it happens
From this reading “Styles is really a glorious old place,” I said to John.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading And then I shouldn’t be so damned hard up as I am now.”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “Styles is really a glorious old place,” I said to John.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading And then I shouldn’t be so damned hard up as I am now.”
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading It’ll be mine some day—should be mine now by rights, if my father had only made a decent will.
an affirmative
From this reading “Yes, it’s a fine property.
Chapter 1 of The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie holds 355 sentences, grouped into 71 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 1 holds 355 sentences of The Mysterious Affair at Styles, unabridged, divided into 71 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 355 sentences, grouped into 71 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 71 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 71 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 1 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5287 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #863 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #863, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 440 minutes of reading across 1058 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Mysterious Affair at Styles section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 13 chapters of The Mysterious Affair at Styles to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The Mysterious Affair at Styles, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
